The Once Known - Forever Changed
by SomethingLessPretentious
Summary: When a new student arrives at Beacon, questions are raised between the members of teams RWBY and JNPR: Who is this enigma? Can they trust him? And with new facts being found... can they even trust each other? This is a change from an old story of mine that got three chapters in, so expect the first three chapters to be slightly similar if you have read my old one.
1. Prologue

Prologue: White, Black and somewhere in-between.

 **Vale: One day, you will learn the truth.**

It was a cold night in Vale and the docks were colder still, was it the sea breeze, the constant bickering of management, or the aura of mistrust in the air? Perhaps it was all three. Whatever the reason, the three dockhands didn't care enough to find out, it was coming to the end of their shift. The youngest of the three, a streetwise boy by the name of Slate was shivering with a small disposable cup of something warm in his hands, which were red and raw from a long day of manual labour.

"Busy day today huh? Never knew it could be this bad." He remarked, he was new to the job, barely a fortnight in and still unaccustomed to the harsh reality of life at the docks. An older man in his fifties chuckled.

"You think this was bad? Ha! You soft-handies make me chuckle" He scratched his grey stubble with a single dirty and bitten fingernail.  
"You ain't seen nothing yet kid, the Vytal festival makes this job hell."

"Well Grif, I at least think they should up our pay for this time of year!" Slate huffed; in his early twenties he was still naive to the world's harsh realities. Something that Grif was eager to jump on.

"Increase our pay? With comments like those we'll make a true dock'and outta you yet lad!" He laughed whilst wiping a none-existent tear from his eye with a calloused hand.

"I've bin stuck on the same lousy salary for thirty odd years! No bonus, no overtime and don't even talk about promotion!" He raised his voice to the young boy, who stood there miffed, before talking to the quieter dockhand, diligently working on the ropes.

"What about you Ropes?" The quiet third dockhand just glared at the boy, a mute man, he didn't really have much to say to anyone even before a Beowulf got his tongue when he was but eighteen. Now Ropes had the pleasure, at thirty two years of age, of being the only mute man on the docks.

They wasted time away as dockhands do, getting the supplies and ordering them into the correct areas. This happened for another hour or so until Slate, once again bored, spoke up.

"Never see no Faunus working these docks do ya'?" He scowled, young human working class Valians never really got along well with the other race.

"Why do think you got this job kid? Incident a couple of months back with that White Fang meant that all the Faunus here got fired." Grif himself scowled, he had a couple of Faunus drinking buddies who got the shift, went by the names 'Li'l Simms' and 'The Captain'.

"That damn company's takin' over the world, no need for decent folks to get the shift; that crap at the docks was just the excuse the fuckers needed!" Grif wasn't done ranting.

"And do you know what's worse? I heard the Schnee bitch was at the dock when it all went down, fishy crap if you ask me." Grif vented, the human working class and the Schnee Dust Company were often at odds, even if they weren't the source of the company's ire.

"I heard that the company got really harsh after those two kids went missing some three years back." Slate spoke up again, now done with his cup he dropped it into the bin behind him.

"The two Schnee boys? The company just needed an excuse kid, this was a dream come true for them."

"What I mean is that, if your kids got abducted by Faunus, you'd be a bit harsher right?" Slate was just playing Devil's Advocate now, trying to get a rise out of Grif, hiding a big grin behind his arm.

"One of them wasn't even his kid, he was his nephew! Papers say that he didn't even like his son very much, now that boy's twin sister, the one at the docks, is one who is gonna inherit it all!"

Rain began to pour and their fire went out.

"Oh this is just great" Slate piped up.

"The only way today could get any worse was if it started to rain and look what happened!" Slate was, to say the least, unimpressed. He still had an hour to go in his shift and now life just got a whole lot crueller; it will get crueller still.

Ropes was just about done with his shift, he needed a strong drink after dealing with this kid and Grif, he couldn't stand to see them any longer. He was about to leave when he noticed a tall figure, shadowed by the darkness and form covered by rain. What he could make out was that they were dragging one leg behind the other and that they were bowing their head, a light emanating from what must have been a head-mounted light under a hood.

Ropes gestured to the figure, as they slowly made their way towards the trio, when they failed he turned and gestured to his companions, but they were now in yet another heated argument. Turning back to face the figure, Ropes saw a masculine frame on the person limping towards him. He walked over to help the staggering figure, as weaker folks didn't do too well in the rain. That all changed when he lifted his head.

He faced a monster, or at least the mask of one. This mask resembled the ones the White Fang used, but this man's was different than the ones in the papers or on television; there were no holes for the man to see through, but instead thick harsh ice-blue lines, emanating a harsh cold blue light, it was clear whatever was under there could see through them. Unlike other Grimm masks, this one covered his entire face and was very sharp, in the shape of a kite shield that the Atlasian Knights used to wield. But what was most notable was the singular thick line, in the shape of an insane, sadistic smile, almost triangular as it stretched from one side of the mask to another. A smile contorted into one of pain, that itself had a blue glow.

Ropes was dead before he could scream. A hand shot out from under the robe and found Ropes' neck before he could let out any noise: there was no glove, yet the hand was black, it was cold, metallic and wouldn't let go. Ropes died quickly as the single hand around his neck twisted, breaking his neck with a loud crack, it was then that the others turned around. They tried to run, they too were silenced. Dead.

Rain dominated the night as the lone killer limped into the warehouse. His entrance to the city of Vale, whilst not flashy, was vital to the operation. He began to mend his leg.

* * *

 **Author**

 **Once again unto the breach for me. I am looking for someone to preview my story before I post it (to find inconsistencies/ Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar), it has been an effort putting these here three chapters out. GCSEs, who would've guessed that they take up your time?**


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One: Clouds.

 **Graue Wolke- Beacon Main Courtyard: 9:56 PM**

 _I have been here before._ Beacon, one of the great bastions of justice and the birthplace of many champions: paragons of freedom sworn to uphold the justice and laws of the realm, the defenders of man and all of his creations against the relentless darkness whose names will go down in the annals of history, the huntsmen.

 _Was it before... whatever happened to me?_ I let mind wander as I stumbled towards its gates, sighing deeply, fatigue running deep in me of both mind and body. The broken moon shone high, its rays breaking through the quilts of rain, the scriptures say it was torn apart by the greed of man long ago and with its shattering came the Grimm, the flood of darkness was God's answer to the swarm of man, the pest whom had marred the land and left it barren, man was pushed to the brink and only those worthy remained, nature reclaimed the land man had stolen and what was once the great world of man became Remnant.

 _Why was I here... the strongest sense of déjà vu._ Pain shocked me back into reality, my left arm was throbbing after the treacherous climb to the top of the cliff and was temporarily crippled, however my right arm was in a better condition: it being an advanced metal-dust prosthetic encompassing my entire right arm including the shoulder, a limb made from a combination of steel plates, aluminium framing and dust circuitry; a cold impersonal item that has been with me for as long as I can remember, however memory is rather scarce as of late. I wore long sleeved clothing and gloves to cover up the arm as not to garner unwanted attention, so covered metal clutched covered flesh as I hobbled to the main building of the academy; legs faring no better than my arm and I could barely stand, threatening collapse, with the sight of the building being the only thing that drew me closer.

A school full of fighters and not a single person outside keeping watch, it's a miracle no-one has made a sneak attack on the academy. Disbelieving the lack of basic security measures, I laboured on with rain falling around me in a torrential symphony; this had only made the climb to the top more difficult, however when I had reached the top and stumbled onto Beacon grounds, clothes sodden and spirits dampened, the storm overhead was like an encore leading me on, the rain was their laughter and the thunder their cheers - _I hate encores_.

Continuing forward, my eyes drifted to the great fountain that lay before Beacon, the two great heroes stood above the Grimm triumphant in their victory: a model for future huntsmen and huntresses to follow and despite myself when I looked at the pair in the fountain I sniggered, no one would be caught wearing a cape and a hood in this day and age! More practical clothing choices had developed since the erection of this monument, however the message remained firmly in place; the fight against the Grimm was a constant one which no one could forget.

Continuing to walk I looked to the floor, the puddles revealing a pair of ice blue eyes staring back at me, almost covered by a mop of midnight black hair, accompanied by tan skin littered with freckles and a scar marring its face from the left eye to the mouth, I winced remembering how I had earned it and how lucky I was to retain sight in that eye, that wound was _anything_ but a clean cut. Before I could continue down that train of thought and the painful memories that lay at the end of it I had arrived at the main entrance, the doors were unlocked... someone had allowed me to enter. I wandered in and while I was rightfully anxious, a shelter from the downpour outside was appreciated. Shaking myself dry I spotted a minute red light in the corner of my eye, at second glance the light belonged to a security camera trained straight in me. It was state of the art with a minute dust reactor acting as an independent power source, so if the mainframe was compromised the cameras could still operate recording the data independently for later inspection _-_ _I have seen them before, but where?._ Leaning on the wall, arm still in moderate pain from the hazardous climb, I brought out a deflated bottle of 'Schnee Sispi' I bought before the climb, I grimaced before chugging it down - _warm-_ but while the soda was warm, it was also caffeinated with a lot of sugar and small traces of dust that are safe for consumption, so I soon felt awake as ever and I immediately heard the two pairs of footsteps heading straight to me.

"Guess I should have expected company." Dragging myself off the floor and drawing my blade: an 80 cm Arming Sword, beautiful in its simplicity. The blade gleamed from the fractured moonlight pervading the entranceway, the hilt was a polished grey and the grip was a simple wrap of black animal hide: it was pure steel, no mecha-shifts, no in-house guns, simply a line of metal that has one purpose and that is just the way I like it and it bears no name as it is lost, _just like the man who wields it_. Holding it in my left arm, the weight pulling it down slightly as the fatigued arm couldn't support the weight; I pulled out a pistol from its holster and loaded non-dust rounds. The pistol was matte grey and held no decoration, with 20 rounds per magazine it was a weapon of convenience, not choice.

"Mister Wolke, you have come this far and I don't think any assassin would scale Beacon Cliff, so please I implore you to lower your weapons." Someone voiced as they turned the corner, the owner of which appeared to be a man of indeterminable age, with grey hair and a calm expression, bespectacled eyes glancing at me with curiosity, in one hand a cane and in the other a mug of steaming coffee: the famous Professor Ozpin of Beacon.

"Professor are you sure we can trust him?" Inquired the blond middle aged woman who accompanied him in seeming exasperation as she looked at me, seemingly unenthused by my presence, her pail complexion revealed a stern expression, her hand gripped tightly around a riding crop, which if I didn't know better would've been comical, however that not being the case I identified her as Glynda Goodwitch. Ozpin waved off his fierce companion with a movement of his cane his calm smile never fading as he took a sip of his coffee, however I was in a state of distress how much does this man know about me?

"My name, how do you know it? I'm nobody." Still not lowering my weapons, with that the professor smiled, his coffee steaming as he took another sip.

"You are far from nobody; you are stood here are you not?" I was about to open my mouth to reply but the professor beat me to it with a smirk plastered on his face.

"As I see it you are in need of answers and you believe many of them lie within this school's walls, I do not know whether the answers you seek are within the confines of my school, but I would like to talk with you... Graue Wolke, walk with me to my office."

* * *

 **Graue Wolke- Beacon Academy: 10:10 PM**

As the professor uttered those words they simply turned and Ozpin gestured me to follow and after a (not so) brief walk we had arrived at two sets of double doors, seemingly made of brass, their décor reminded me of clockwork and there was a digital panel to the right of the doors requiring a pass code as he had it left the room locked, upon inputting the pass code that was 12 characters long we entered. As we entered automatic lighting turned on and revealed the room to be almost empty, bare and functional with no life to it at all, the most notable feature was the clockwork motif, the room was bathed in gears turning through endlessly through the night; sounds of clicking ran parallel to that of the rain batting the window, a veritable kingdom of clockwork, turning my head skywards I saw the turning mass of gears above my head rotating perpetually without any sign of stopping. We arrived at Ozpin's desk that was set in front of the window, the only thing of real function in the room, which itself had gears embedded into the table, turning endlessly- as clockwork does.

"You seem to appreciate the décor of the room." Ozpin noted with a wry smile of a man whom had seen this a thousand times before whilst offering me a seat. I replied with only a nod before I glanced around the room once more and settled in the proffered chair, it was at this time Miss Goodwitch once again spoke up.

"So Mr Wolke you have gained our attention and I applaud you in that feat, however this is trespassing on Beacon grounds so could you please explain yourself?" Miss Goodwitch uttered without a shred of the warmth that Ozpin had shown me, with this she tapped on her scroll and there was footage of my climbing Beacon Cliff and whilst it was playing she continued.

"The academy is protected by not only this cliff, but by the river below it, so do please explain why and how you made it up that cliff?" This was the question I didn't want to answer, it could paint me as a sinister entity, but I had to explain.

"Well, I hired a local fisherman to get me to the docks while he was on his run, illegal I know, as for climbing well..." I stopped briefly as I revealed my metal arm to the pair.

"This made the climb much more accomplishable feat." With this her eyes narrowed slightly, the reaction I expected and worried. However the professor smirked and once again spoke up.

"Glynda there is no need to be so suspecting, this answers many of my questions"

"But Professor, you must understand-" She retorted only to get interrupted.

"Glynda, this boy was in search of answers this is what we have already garnered and so may I ask you Mr Wolke, to what do you seek answers for?" He asked me this as he sat, putting his coffee to one side and resting his hands together and looked at me through his small spectacles.

"I seek answers to... my life: where do I come from and what is my purpose?" This was the reason for my travels; all the hardships I had gone through after I had left that dreadful place were for the seeking of these simple answers.

"Now forgive me for being crude, but because we don't have a lot of time I must ask: were you abandoned when you were a child, or did you lose your memory?" He inquired with a small smile and just like that I was speechless as if all the words had vanished from my tongue. It took me a minute to compose myself, I was not expecting such a forward question from him.

"...Memory Loss" I barely muttered, this man deciphered me like a simple code. With this answer he leaned back on his chair and went into contemplation.

"I actually know very little about you my boy, you are quite the mystery, but what reports I do have on you indicate a clear lack of direction and purpose, you have moved from kingdom to kingdom with no aim and finally arrived in Vale a week ago. You are either trying to find answers to who you are, **or** **who you were** , you confirmed the latter and have arrived at Beacon to find the answers you seek, this is the truth no?"

"Yes, that is correct... do **you** perhaps know anything Professor?" My words were shaky; it seems that after I left that place there has been an entire catalogue of information made about me and my actions.

"I'm sorry child, but as I said earlier I know rather little about you" He said with a sincere smile. He knows very little about me? He forced out of me one of my biggest secrets just by looking at my actions and direction of travel; if I was under his personal watch very soon all my darkest secrets would be laid bare for him to see, but that is a risk I must take as I know many of the answers I seek are here, but will they be satisfactory... _do I even want to find out?_

"But I do want to give you an offer, perhaps then we can both find answers we seek?" Ozpin spoke with a grin, it seems he manoeuvred the conversation in the way that he wanted to, but his offer could be a benefit to me also. However before the professor could make his proposition, Miss Goodwitch spoke up in an exasperated tone; it seems she is the voice of the reason between the pair.

"Professor before you make any rash decisions perhaps it would be apt for Mister Wolke to write up a report? We know little about him and perhaps this report would better influence future decisions." She had a good point, they had little on my past, my motives and most importantly they have nothing on my loyalties- I have never been involved in terrorist activity, but perhaps a memory wipe would be the easiest way to sneak a sleeper agent into the school. It is a scary thought that my mind is not my own, that I am just a personality crafted for infiltration, one of the many things that has lost me valuable sleep. Whilst I was thinking, much to my surprise the Professor waved off the worries of his companion.

"No Glynda, I don't believe we will be needing a report. I want to evaluate Mister Wolke on his present actions, not the ones in his past." With that he silenced Miss Goodwitch and turned to me.

"I believe you can be an asset to this school, a huntsman in service to the people and I also believe that the answers you seek coincide with unanswered questions of my own, Graue Wolke, a huntsman is a noble profession... do you accept the mantle of responsibility that I have placed upon on your shoulders?" This made me gulp, he had a way with words that made my throat dry; so with a parched throat I answered.

"Yes sir, of course... thank you" With this he smiled and stood up, happy with my answer.

"Well then I do believe preparations are in order, Glynda and I shall show you to your room."

 _Answers to questions... An undeniable lust for the truth has led me here; perhaps this is where it will all fall into place, perhaps it already has._


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two: Change.

 **Graue Wolke- Beacon: The Headmaster's Office- 10:31 PM**

As we walked from the Professor's office to my temporary accommodation, I reminisced on my journey here: the hard times I had whilst on the move from place to place, the loneliness of my solitary lifestyle and the place which I left, my freedom felt bitter- the sacrifices I made weigh heavy on my mind and the things I did, many would call me a monster.

"Mister Wolke, perhaps now would be a good time to tell you that your time at Beacon will not be easy, you will be under rigorous assessment by teachers and students alike and if your results, or your cooperation fail to please then you may be evicted from the school on a short notice." This came from Glynda Goodwitch in a businesslike tone, much akin to someone reporting on shareholder's stocks.

"You have my word Miss Goodwitch that it is not in my intention to slack off from my studies or training, both are very dear to me." The truth though a bit clichéd, was just that and I would work hard to remain in this academy, though there was one nitpick I had.

"I've heard that this school has a team-based system of tutelage, I have arrived months after teams first came together... what will my position be in that respect?"

"In operations you will be assigned to various teams if they need extra assistance, but with such a position I'm afraid in competitions such as the upcoming Vytal Festival you cannot participate, it would be against the rules, all participants must be teams from an academy." Miss Goodwitch responded to my question in a level tone of voice; that is just fine with me, I don't want to step foot in an arena ever again, I don't want to fight for another's entertainment ever again.

"I'll live with it, just being able to train here and to have a real chance at finding answers is enough." I responded by bowing my head, the Vytal Festival is supposed to be a great honour after all, thus it wouldn't make much sense to show obvious disdain.

"You don't seem too disappointed at not having the chance to fight in the tournament." Ozpin commented, he saw right through me- the man can read me like text on a Scroll.

"I have never been too big on competition for the masses." A white lie here and there can smooth over unwanted attention, but Ozpin merely smirks at my remark as he takes a leisurely sip of his hot beverage. We finally arrived at the room which was to be my temporary accommodation, a small but habitable room with: a single bed, a toilet, a shower and a small kitchen- I have not seen much better in my time.

"You will get food in the Dining Hall along with the other students at Lunchtime and Dinner and though not recommended pupils may return to their rooms for meals after collecting them, Breakfast is a optional meal that you may cook yourself or go to the Dining Hall." Miss Goodwitch stated before opening the door to the room and gesturing me inside with a few parting words.

"Welcome to Beacon Mr. Wolke, I do hope for your sake that you perform to the best of your ability." With those words she gently closed the door without a sound, leaving me alone for the night.

* * *

 **Glynda Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin- Beacon: School Corridors 10:45 PM**

"That boy's arm was an impressive prosthetic, it seems to rival the technology available here at Beacon" Professor Ozpin spoke to Glynda as he made a small profile of the boy he had just met, before he could continue she cut him off.

"Professor, tell me the truth, why did you not get the boy to write a report, at least get him answer some questions to shed some light on his situation?" Glynda was rightly frustrated by the Professor's lack of restriction with the boy, why should he be let off so lightly when so many others are put through rigorous examination, he had taken too many chances this year: Miss Rose, the Arc Boy and now this shady one with little-to-no past! Sometimes she sees Ozpin as either a child or as a cold calculating chess player, with everyone being a piece on the board; he was the man she most respected, a pleasant man and the scariest man she had ever met.

"Glynda, if we made the boy do a report we would have likely scared him off... we need to fulfil his expectations and let him play into our hands, I see much potential in him." His response was less than satisfactory, but then Glynda realised something.

"You know more than you let on don't you?"

The Professor's quiet chuckle was the only response she required.

* * *

 **Graue Wolke- Beacon: Beacon Temporary Dorm 1- 10:50 PM**

Beacon, I was here... it was easier than expected.

I'm now a student of one the four great combat schools of Remnant, albeit temporarily for now. This was the next step to finding my answers and I had great faith in finding them.

Removing my arm from its socket, I winced when the connectors (allowing my nerves control the arm) disconnected and the metal prosthetic, now with no host, lay limp and lifeless. I studied it for the thousandth time, every scratch telling a story, every dint a tale.

Against my better judgement, I thought about my journey to here now, how all the pain culminated in this. I thought back to where it all began, waking up in a dirty truck with only a metal arm and a 'bear' for company, I thought back to how it ended, the tragedies of that place will never leave; the ghosts I made now haunt me every day.

I collapsed onto a bed before I knew it, my clothes dirty from the climb and for the first time in two years... clutching my amulet and curling up into a ball, I allowed myself to cry.

* * *

 **Vale: Is this what you wanted?**

He stood. The White Fang accommodated him once he arrived in the city, but there was work to be done. Fastening his mask to his face once more, he stepped out into the hostility of the city. White Fang grunts flanking him as he made his way down the street, once again to the waterfront; there was a man he was ordered to meet with.

The ex-hunter, Cygnus, stood at the end of the pier, his wheat-yellow hair came down to his shoulders, the sky was full of stars as he stared into it; he appeared unarmed. The man had no reason to risk himself. This was the man they wanted dead, he would die... in time. The two White Fang grunts held no such caution and threw it to the wind as the charged, swords bared. They fell quickly; one gun-shot, one slash in the midnight air was all it took. The man wielded what seemed to be a crimson ribbon, but the crimson was a bloody coating for his metallic magnum-string: this _hunter_ took no prisoners. Good.

"You. So you're the man hunting us all down, I remember you. You were a White Fang lapdog all along? How disappointing, I thought we and your masters had a deal? We hide their waste and get paid for it." Cygnus had bravado about him; a trained hunter from Shade academy who turns on his team at the first sign of trouble doesn't deserve such a gift.

"When Scarlet Tear has finished with you, I'll move on to your pathetic street-gang of an organisation, you'll pay for messing with us!"

The man was passive, merely staring at his combatant. The blue glow from his mask adding to the light of the stars.

He drew his weapon.

* * *

 **Beacon: Classroom 2B (Grimm Studies) – 08:45 AM**

I arrived at class fifteen minutes early, I wished to introduce myself to the teachers systematically and it seems a good thing to start early. Knocking on the classroom door with my real arm, my other lay at my side, the blazer and long shirt covering the arm, gloves over both my hands hid any kind of presence of a prosthetic. Ten seconds after knocking, a hearty voice responded on the other side of the door.

"Do come in, I wasn't expecting anyone else so early!"

Opening the door, I was met by two figures, one a white haired girl, sat on the front row with a teacher, an older round man, sat at the front desk, behind him were sketching of various types of common Grimm. It was clear I had just interrupted a conversation.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to impose-" I began at once, but was interrupted swiftly by the man, dressed in a red button-up jacket.

"Nonsense, I and Miss Schnee are about finished here," He remarked, so this must be Weiss Schnee then? She is one of the three Schnee children and the sole heir to the company after what happened to her brother. She looked familiar.

"-remember Miss Schnee, do not let the past define your future, you are a brilliant young huntress and know that I'm always happy to help." The man finished whatever he was saying to the young heiress, he seemed genuinely affectionate to her, a father figure for a person that never really had one. _The past defining the future... sounds a lot like what Professor Ozpin said to me_.

"Thank you Professor, now may I go to my team? Our brilliant leader lost her shoes... again." After a nod the heiress walked out of the classroom and the teacher turned to me.

"Sorry about that, so you are Ozpin's newest gamble? I must say, for the headmaster to risk so much in one year is unheard of... your name?"

"Graue Wolke sir, it is a pleasure to meet you, you are Professor Port, am I correct?" With this the aptly portly man nodded and got to his feet and walked over to where I was stood (a few rows up from the front) and put his hand on my shoulder; I instinctively struggled to get him off. Professor Port quickly noticed this and relinquished his grip, with furrowed eyebrows. He held my gaze for a few seconds until turning to the front and turned suddenly jubilant.

"My apologies, welcome to Grimm Studies, where I endeavour to share my knowledge and my experiences with the younger generation, so that they can themselves progress to become the best huntsmen they can be, ahah!" This false, larger-than-life persona was in complete contrast to the man I saw earlier in his talk with Miss Schnee, that man was caring, fatherly and subtle; this is not who I'm being presented with now, why put on such a show?

"...Thank you for that." I awkwardly replied and merely carried on.

"I must say the school is very expansive, to the point of excess."

"Ah yes, well the room is needed, around two hundred hunters a year join the school and they not only need different facilities, like sparring coliseums, but also team housing, to facilitate the team bonding needed." But my mind only half processed the information, as he mentioned one thing that sent a chill down my spine.

"You mentioned... sparring coliseums?"

"Ah yes, students participate in sparring sessions three times a week, a student's favourite and with the Vytal tournament just around the corner, extra sessions are available for those who need them."

I feel like a child again, I want to whine, I want to cry and I want to scream that this just isn't fair. My head felt numb and I just sit down on the nearest seat. The professor, apparently unobservant of my plight spoke up again.

"I'm afraid that seat is taken, you'll be sitting at the front, between Miss Schnee and Miss Rose, to prevent any more trouble from those two."

* * *

 **Beacon: Classroom 2B (Grimm Studies) – 09:05 AM**

The class began in earnest; all students had answered the roll-call apart from four. These four arrived four minutes late in a manner befitting a team that is... well, five minutes late.

 **Bang!**

"Sorry we're late!" A high-pitched voice chirped into the classroom, a small black and red haired girl almost crashed into the classroom after slamming the door open, she was panting and seemed to be glowing slightly. There was little chance of her being the correct age to study at this school, could this be one of the risks the Professor Port mentioned earlier?

Not a minute later came three more girls, taller and definitely the senior of the girl who barged into the room. They were indeed a sight, all three of them objectively beautiful, but all three in a different state of duress.

A tall blonde girl was first in, her mane of hair a mess down her back and her normally attractive face being contorted into one of misery, _not much to that one_.

An ebony haired girl made her way through the doorway, looking sheepish and thoroughly embarrassed, red in the face with what seemed to be a pencil stuck in her hair. _Don't trust her_.

Miss Schnee came in last and looked utterly resigned; after a small time with her face in her palm, she promptly made her way down to the front row where she met with the young girl.

"This is why you are not allowed to sleep late nights" The heiress hissed under her breath (but not that quietly) to the junior. The diminutive girl seemed preoccupied however with other matters, namely me.

"Er, Weiss... there is a boy sat in my spot?"

"Who is it?" The heiress was growing impatient.

" _A boy_!" This girl was getting on my nerves, but I'll save her.

"I believe we met Miss Schnee?" This turned the indignant snow-haired girl (and the entire class for that matter) my way. People began muttering, _who could this mystery boy be_? If only they knew the truth.

"Look... I've already had a bad day, if you could just-" The young Schnee started on a stress-induced rant, but was cut off by the Professor.

"Ah yes! Now seems like a good enough time to introduce him: this is Graue Wolke, a temporary student in our school, but don't let that prevent you from treating him with the respect that you would show any other student. That is all I can say on the matter!" The professor seemed to be anxious, as an introduction of a new student could obviously interrupt the flow of the lesson.

Nevertheless, the other students seemed to accept me as their new temporary companion and settled down quickly. The professor drew in a noticeable breath of relief.

"Now Miss Rose, Miss Schnee. This boy has been placed in between you two to prevent further... disruptions." Miss Schnee nodded, but Miss Rose took issue.

" **What! But Weiss is my buddy, my pal, we are inseparable, you can't do this to me- I mean us!** " The words came out like bullets, quick with no pause for breath and she wasn't finished.

" **What if she gets lonely? I mean we are her team and she is separated from us, from me! Her leader! A leader has to have her eye on her subordinated at all times!** " Leader? A role I did not expect from this word-rattling hamster. Miss Rose is definitely a risk, Ozpin has risked his credibility twice now, but that man is shrewd and this girl will have some qualities that I can just not see.

"Miss Rose. This is final." The professor put his foot down, in a seemingly uncommon display of authority, as the class went silent.

"Drat, Weiss what do we do?" The young leader turned to her partner, who happened to have the best poker-face I had ever seen, her reply was dry.

"Oh my... whatever will I do without my glorious leader sat next to me? Talking. Doodling. Drooling." She drew out her words in an effort to emphasise the sarcasm, with only now a hint of a smile playing on her face.

The young Rose looked mortified.

With the decision now being final, the only thing to do now was to introduce myself to my neighbours so-to-speak; I turned to the newly downtrodden leader to my left.

"You okay there? The name's Graue Wolke." A short and sweet introduction.

"Do ladies love it?" She replied, her lips pursed as she mumbled it out.

"Love what?"

"Your name, do they love your name?" What a strange girl, whatever is she on about? I nevertheless thought back on my past experiences with the opposite sex.

"No, actually there is a pretty unanimous dislike of my name, huh." This realisation wasn't the sort of thing I wanted right now, quite the opposite.

"M-ame's-y..." The girl was mumbling at a volume I think only the best hounds could hear.

"Louder"

"My name's Ruby..." She seemed to sink further down into the desk, I was about to comment when I heard a sigh. Turning I saw the face of the heiress looking down to her leader.

"Hopeless, isn't she?" She spoke softly.

"I mean not to be rude, but how is she your leader? She looks younger than everyone else here!" I whispered to her, she seemed reasonable enough and I honestly thought she would agree with me, what I got surprised me.

"She is younger than us. Two years in fact, that's a lot when you're in such a dangerous profession." But she shook her head adamantly.

"However, she is our leader because she possesses qualities that none of our team do, if you asked me a couple of months ago I would have agreed with you. But now... I've learnt more about my own flaws and the lack of leadership I posses, ones that she does indeed posses." Whilst saying this she looks down at the little leader, who was apparently oblivious, and smiles, a smile of familial affection. I felt ashamed to have asked the question, it was a team that had spent months in each other's company and I just come in and only see things for their surface value.

My lack of a team suddenly made me feel empty and cold, I was the outsider again.


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three: Motion. 

**Graue Wolke- Beacon: Dining Hall – 01:15 PM**

After the initial excitement of the day, the first lesson turned out to be the most boring thing I have had to sit through in a long time, an arduous experience where the professor droned on about his adventures, adding a more than subtle layer of hyperbole to spice up an otherwise dull tale. It didn't work.

His class was but one of three I have just experienced, one involved mixing some less than savoury chemicals together to create a miserable smelling concoction, which the professor, Dr. Mustard was a kind enough man, however he was covered in blisters and red marks from his experiments.

But it was my third lesson, The History of Remnant, which (to my immense surprise) was the most strange of the three I have experienced. It is taught by an odd, quirky basil haired man, whose strong penchant for coffee seems to have driven him into overdrive. With the speeds he was reaching going around the classroom, there was not a chance that Doctor Oobleck drank any normal type of coffee.

It was only around the time when lunch is served that I finally had time to process the goings on of the school, it seems that lunches were complimentary of the school, which I'm sure is one of the many benefits students of a government funded Hunter's Academy can enjoy. The meals on offer were not what I was used to, these were actual meals, with flavour- something I could no longer stomach after my time... absent. Therefore, when it was my turn to receive my meal, the cooks weren't all too happy with my request.

"Do you have any porridge?" Little did I know that these five words caused calamity in the kitchen and that's how after five minutes of waiting, I received a bowl of steaming porridge and a valiant promise of future porridge. Only after that disaster had ceased could I move on to another problem, where to sit. Frankly, I had no idea; that was until I heard someone stood next to me speak.

"Need somewhere to sit? Come sit with me and my team." This came from a boy of similar age to myself, with cropped blond hair and dark blue eyes, after accepting we made our way to his table and as we reached the table he continued.

"The name's Jaune Arc and this is my team." He presented them all to me with a wave of his hand and settled down and offered the seat next to him for me.

"Hey _Porridge Boy_... can I have your desert?" This came from a orange haired girl with vibrant blue eyes, which glinted with something edging on madness. Not really wanting a desert anyway, I handed it over, but I had to ask.

"Is this a robbery?" I smirked with an eyebrow raised, these people I'm meeting there seems to be a fifty-fifty ratio on them being fairly normal to bizarre.

"I'm afraid we're not all that exciting, that's just Nora." Sighed a black haired boy, with a magenta stripe standing out.

"My name is Lie Ren, though everyone just seems to call me Ren." He spoke softly as he held out his hand, after a couple of seconds I took it; I've learnt that shaking hands is a great way to lose focus, as it's a sign of absolute trust.

The last member of the team was silent, perhaps because she knew she needed no introduction, the auburn regality of Pyrrha Nikos was unmistakable, even from a person with my predicament, I merely nodded at her in silent recognition, which she returned with a slightly sad smile.

"Quite the motley crew you have acquired Jaune Arc, though I must say everyone in this school is slightly mad!" I hid the real feeling of exasperation in my harmless jest.

"Yep this is a strange team, but Team JNPR is not mine, not alone anyway," He waves to his team again who smile.

"This team has been a joint effort, for my teammates and me. I can't begin to tell you how much these people have helped me progress, from what I was."

"Which was?"

"Nothing." _Nothing_? That makes no sense, nothing can't get you into a prestigious combat school. I had to ask.

"What do you mean by nothing?" Was there something I'm not getting, but the troubled look on Jaune's face implies otherwise. However, before he can start up again Pyrrha interrupts.

"Enough about that, what's your story Graue? You are the talk of the year." She's trying to hide something from me, something about Jaune Arc, but I like Jaune so perhaps it would be pertinent to do more... private investigation.

"Me? I'm a drifter; I've been on the move for over two years now and I somehow ended up here." I replied to Pyrrha with the truth, just not the full story.

"I wonder why the headmaster let you in, he must have a reason." Pyrrha spoke interrogatively.

"Well, that's something we're both looking forward to finding out." I spoke with a smirk, she was right though, I don't have the answers she wants and in fact I want to know them more than she ever will.

"Well one thing is for certain, you'll definitely bring something new to practice." Pyrrha finished off and went back to eating her lunch.

"That's actually a good point, do we have combat practice today?" I asked with a small scowl; needed to know, Ozpin gave me a timetable on my rented Scroll, however he seems to be hiding the lessons and unlocking them periodically to give me an element of surprise which was most unpleasant.

"We do indeed, do you not like fighting?" Chirped a now rather subdued Nora after attaining my desert.  
"We have it last, after Survival Practice, oh it's so much fun!" She didn't give me any chance to reply to her not-so rhetorical question.

"Fun for you at least..." Muttered Jaune under his breath beside me, he looked sullen and downtrodden even though being rather happy whilst talking about his team, it seems talking about practice gets him in this position. He notices my concerned look and puts on a smile and waves me off. At least I'm not the only one that despises combat practice, although it's highly unlikely for a similar reason to my own.

After that, a relaxing period of nonchalant inane chatter ensued and I truly believed I had found the first people in this school who I could relax around. They weren't friends though, friends get you killed.

The bell rings.

* * *

 **Graue Wolke- Beacon: Survival Arena – 01:50 PM**

The class arranged themselves outside the imposingly named 'Survival Arena' and were chatting casually. The Survival Arena sounds all too familiar. The class was told to change before the lesson began and so we all turned up in our regular wear. I personally was merely dressed in a simple black t-shirt and jeans.

" **Come in!** " Boomed a deep, but clearly female voice from the other side of the door and the students spearheading the group sighed and moved in first. I was among the last to make my way inside and what I saw was a surprising sight for a school building: it was as if I had walked into a forest, it was a very wide area, with various trees and plants scattered around, gnarled roots coming up from the ground; it felt all too false, I've been fighting in places like this for years.

The most astonishing sight was the teacher: a small (very small) but stocky and well-built woman of middle age. She was the strangest character I have seen yet, with her indigo hair tied into a bun behind her head, a scowl plastered on her face as she peered down at us... from a six-foot pedestal.

"Oh, you again." She began, the class was silent.

"I had about enough of you yesterday; young hunters are the most impetuous creatures I've ever had to deal with." Her eyes were small black beads as she stared down the entire group and whilst I obviously wasn't subject to her verbal smackdown, it was still intimidating nonetheless. That was when she stared at me and paused there and so we were locked in a war of the eyes, my time away had taught me that you couldn't look away if were being looked at, or else there would be severe punishment.

"Ah... yes you, Graue Wolke I believe." She spoke slowly, seemingly at the end of her patience. I merely nodded in response, not willing to draw her ire.

"So you are the boy that Ozpin told us about, I am Professor Kore and just know that you will get no special treatment from me, you are from this moment as worthless as the rest of these... trainees." I decided to speak up.

"May I ask: what have these students done to annoy you so?" This, as I feared, deepened her scowl.

"These students have been a pain since their first day and you will be no different, I can tell that already... to get you to understand how I run things, you can join Miss Long in her detention in two days time." With this my eyes widened, what sort of teacher puts a student in detention for nothing!

"You will work with Miss Long today also, I've heard from Mr Port that you have decent manners, do try and teach them to this animal for me." She gestured to the buxom blonde that I had judged earlier in Professor Port's class, a member of team RWBY and I had nothing else to do but make my way towards her.

"Students, your task today is simple: build a shelter that could fit the pair of you, go." With that the students ran to claim one of many piles of sticks, leaves and rocks scattered around the room, it seemed my temporary partner had already claimed one and she waved me over.

"Come on _new guy_ we don't have all day!" She smirked and toyed with her hair as she waited for me. Once I made my way through a throng of students I was at her side, a pile of basic materials at our feet. She was wearing a tan-brown vest, along with plain black shorts.

"So how are we going to go about this?" I decided to get right on task, the blonde had other ideas.

"Not going to ask a lady her name first?" She asked with a small pout, I could only sigh at this behaviour, deciding to play along to speed matters up I asked.

"What is thy name, fair _Maiden_?" I asked in monotone.

"Oh Maiden, I like that! The name's Yang, Yang Xiao Long, you?" The smirk returning to her face as she replied.

"Graue Wolke."

"You one of those quiet and mysterious types? I already know enough of those, the only thing I really know about you is that you caused a commotion at lunch time, what was that about?" She was toying with me and I fell right into her trap.

"I asked for some porridge when-" I was interrupted by her laughter and as she calmed down she began to tease me.

"You had porridge for lunch? Oh you are totally being called _Porridge_ , that's a much better name than _Graue_." There it goes again, another porridge joke and another porridge nickname, blinking hard and pinching my nose I changed the topic.

"Let us get on this shelter, or we will never get it finished and please don't call me Porridge." I tried to make my point, but the girl started up again.

"I'll think up something else for ya' later, but for now _Porridge_ we must get to know each other better." As she said this she leant over slightly and winked, revealing two... points of interest that were only further pronounced by a cropped yellow top. _Damn she is stunning_.

"I would just love to learn more about you Miss Xiao Long, but I'm sure we can complete the task at the same time." I forced myself to focus, plenty of girls I have known have used their bodies to their advantage, sometimes in the middle of battle.

"Well aren't you fun! You're actually more formal than our resident Snowflake." Her sarcasm was blatant and cutting, but we finally began the task.

"Say Miss Xiao... Yang?" My correction elicited a chuckle from the tall blonde, but I had a hunch.

"Yes _Breakfast_?" That wasn't even funny.

"... Do you have any family in this school?" I looked up and I saw a proud smile.

"Only the youngest leader in the history of this school, my little sister leads our team."

"I thought so." My guess was right it seems, realted to Ruby Rose.

"How'd you guess?"

"You're both as annoying as each other." I spoke, finally with a smirk of my own.

"Hey!"Of course that is not the real reason, they both had the same sort of drive and boldness which seemed to be a family trait.

This sort of back and forth banter carried on as we both struggled to create the shelter with many components having to be put on simultaneously. As I looked around the room again, I could finally appreciate the strangeness of it: different tress around the room swayed in the non-existent breeze, absent birds chirped, gnarled roots thrust themselves seemingly out of nowhere threatening to trip unwary eyes and the air smelled of nature. There were no imperfections to the room, no reason to doubt its reality, but that is why it was flawed, nothing in life is perfect. Yang herself asked a question that stopped my inspection of the room.

"So Porridge, how did you get that nasty scar of yours?" She pointed to the large scar running from my left eye to my mouth, a touchy subject delving into a past I don't want to revisit.

"Grimm." I spoke quickly, using a regular excuse, but she noticed something was off and frowned.

"No Grimm makes that cut." She was more perceptive than I had thought, but the truth was much more dreadful than some Grimm, a monster did make that scar, but it wasn't the Grimm. I stayed in silence, now stuck in thought about how I attained it and the events that followed.

"You know what? Forget I said it, sorry." She snapped me out of my recollections and as I looked at her, she gave me an apologetic smile. I decided just to change the topic.

"Say, can you bang that stick in?"

"How about I _Yang_ that stick in... ayy?"

"..."

After the shelters completion, ours being barebones to accommodate for our tall frames and Yang's veritable mane of hair. Professor Kore moved from shelter to shelter and finally settled on ours.

"Barebones, simple... but a commendable effort Mr Wolke, as you did have Miss Long to deal with also." This earned a scowl from Yang and a small chuckle from the rest of the class.

"This seemed to work out well, you will work with Miss Long from now on and remember, your detention is in two days." She finished as the bell went off; our time in this strange place had come to an end, but the real trial begins now.

* * *

 **Graue Wolke- Beacon: Amphitheatre – 02:45 PM**

It seems the time has come, my first session of combat practice is here and people around me are abuzz with anticipation. As we settled down into the tiered seats around the circular arena, the excitement escalated until boiling over when Glynda Goodwitch herself stepped out, at that point many people were raring to go. I looked around and spied teams RWBY and JNPR sat next to each other, seeming on friendly terms, however their leader's moods were the antithesis of one another. Jaune Arc's sullen expression with his chin on his hand was contrasting with Ruby's bouncy eagerness with a wide grin.

The session began quite tamely with Glynda iterating the rules for the session.

"As most of you know, these practice matches are under extreme supervision and are under tournament rules, once your aura reaches the red you are out, is that clear?" As she says that she makes a meaningful look at Jaune who averts his eyes and hangs his head, eliciting a chuckle across the room, a large burley boy with dark orange hair.

"What is so funny Mr. Winchester, perhaps you want to spar first today? Alright, you will spar with Miss Belladonna." With this the muscular boy gulped and silently nodded and moved off to prepare, whilst the silent Miss Belladonna let out a small sigh and also left. With this I moved towards the two teams and went to sit next to Yang where Blake was moments before, the blonde waved her approval and I sat.

"So, who is going to win this match, I'm afraid I don't know much about Beacon's students." I started; saying I knew little was an overstatement, I knew nothing. So I was not surprised when this elicited a small chuckle from Yang.

"Well _Porridge_ you'll have to wait and see, I don't want to ruin anything for you on your first day!" I could only reply with a sigh to her coyness and settled my eyes onto the stage. After a couple of minutes, the two were both on the stage, weapons drawn. Cardin Winchester wielded a large mace, weapon of pure strength complimenting the wielder; Blake's weapon was a little more unorthodox, it being a small blade with a small handgun not unlike my own embedded into the hilt, however the strange nature of the weapon was what came along with the gun-blade, a jet black ribbon was wrapped around the weapon and her arm, meaning that the weapon could be used when swung, increasing the effective range. She also wielded the scabbard of the weapon in her left hand as a parrying tool: he was brute strength, whilst she was pure dexterity.

No words were needed as all eyes were glued to the stage.

It began all too quickly, with Cardin going in for a swift strike, swinging his mace in a wide arc as to catch her; she merely leapt back and began her own assault. She began firing off shots as she ran back towards and in one last shot, threw her weapon at the boy, propelling it at unfathomable speeds towards him; he could barely bat it away and as he recovered and as he did, Blake moved in.

Releasing a flurry of blows in a blur as she advanced on him, swinging her blade wildly in wide swift arcs as he staggered further and further back, this went on for a minute until Winchester (now backed up to the wall) went for one last desperate attempt and abandoning all personal safety he charged, jumped and brought his mace down with a roar, Blake nimbly dodged the blow, but the blast generated from the dust within the mace caught her off guard and knocked her away.

Nevertheless, as they both stood up Winchester was struggling to stand and leant on his mace slightly as if to steady him, Blake on the other hand was raring to go. One last dash towards him was all it took, with Cardin making a lazy swing of his mace which was deftly parried by Blake with her scabbard as she moved under his guard and tripped him, downing the warrior. It was then that Miss Goodwitch spoke up.

"Cardin Winchester's aura has hit the red; the winner of the fight is Blake Belladonna." She spoke deftly and quickly.

"Mr. Winchester, do try and work on your defence, as soon as you get onto the back foot you lose the fight." She spoke to Cardin scathingly as he got up, Blake didn't help him as she walked away to change. I piped up after the fight, very impressed.

"Your friend put up an impressive display, she barely got hit." Yang nodded, but seemed a little concerned.

"It was never going to end any other way, but Blake didn't do it as quickly as she could have." It seemed almost incredible to ask more of her than that performance, but there were moments in the fight where she could have done much more than what she did do: parried faster, been more aggressive and she could have fully dodged that explosion.

By the time Blake had returned a whole different type of fight had started as we had moved onto less serious analysis. Music. Yang was very vocal about her choices.

"I'm just saying The Achieve Men are clearly the best band around, they may have lost one of their lead singers, but even without Ray they are so good!" This girl just didn't get good music.

"You have it all wrong, The House of Fun are the best band, they just have better chemistry, what isn't there to get?" The House of Fun was a recently established band which hasn't yet had the commercial success of The Achieve Men, but it's quickly growing. That is when I saw Blake; she was walking over to the seats near two of us. I got her attention and offered her the seat (it was hers originally after all), but she just shakes her head and settles down and settles into a seat behind Yang.

"You okay Blakey?" Yang spoke with concern, her brow slightly furrowed; it was clear why she had these inhibitions, Blake's eyes had dark rings underneath them and she clearly hadn't been sleeping well.

"I'm fine, Yang." The ebony-haired girl huffed. Liar.

Yang too seemed suspicious and narrowed her eyes, but seemed to accept that not only was the girl a liar, but that she was stubborn enough to deny that lie until the end of time. She turned around and after a brief silence between us the conversation continued. The actual fight going on in the arena was less heated than this one right now, because it seemed that music wasn't the only thing we didn't agree on.

"You like homework!" Yang basically screeched at me, it seems she doesn't listen either, I could only sigh.

"All I'm saying is that there is something to be said for extended learning, I appreciate its purpose, that's all." I tried to stop her, but she was too far gone and so it was only after a short fit that she calmed herself down, took a few long breaths and carried on.

"The purpose of homework is to be evil _Porridge_." That nickname is going to get grating quickly. Little did we know the fight was over and Miss Goodwitch was going over the crowd looking for the next match, her eyes settled on us.

"Mr. Wolke, Miss Xiao Long are you quite done?" She spoke firmly and we both froze in our places.

"You both have five minutes to prepare, then you enter the arena."

 _Shit_.

* * *

 **These do tend to be a slog to write, turns out creating things is much harder than stealing them... who would have guessed? I'm trying to keep many of the details from the series the same in this work, the process of looking over details does tend to take a long time.  
** **I also have no idea how my fight-scene writing is going to feel to you guys, but guy can only do his best.**


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four: Tests

 **Graue Wolke- Beacon: Duelling Changing Rooms – 03:10 PM**

It seemed the very thing I wanted to avoid happened on the first day, it was inevitable really, but it would have been nice to pretend to have a decent school life before the past came back to haunt me. The atmosphere is all too reminiscent of my _time away_ , the changing rooms are too big for one man, they were meant for at least four people, a team. The changing rooms _back then_ were similar, I often found myself changing alone even though they were built to hold up to ten people; I was only in a fully manned changing room once and a slaughter ensued that day.

My armour was already in store for me, a simple garb: boiled black leather with a holster for my pistol and a plain brown sheath attached to the belt for the sword, no helmet. The only anomaly were the small pouches dotted around, each containing a dust crystal of different colours, though there were mainly the three combat dusts: red, blue and yellow, all uncut (they don't need to be refined, they just need to work).

This is the first battle against a human being since my _time away_ and I'm frankly quite scared, those times were fraught with danger and whilst now my life isn't in danger my livelihood is, I need to prove myself and if I don't expulsion would be imminent. However there is a chance that I would do too well, instincts and memory are violent things when all they are is death- _that I know all too well_.

With my armour and weapon equipped I sat down one last time, was I really ready to exit this room and re-enter nightmares of old. No... but if I am to advance then I must make sacrifices, if I am to rediscover my past, then I must rediscover it all and face what I have done head on, _what I have tried to run away from_. I looked over myself once again, there is a lot less brown and crimson on this armour than there used to be, but the splotches of mud and blood had etched themselves into my mind and they will always on my attire.

I stood and took the first steps into a new beginning.

* * *

 **Vale: Memory is pain, order is balance.**

The base was attacked as he rested.

He lay. He had his own room in the White Fang's local headquarters where there were about fifty members in the building; he hated every single one of them. His mask had left his face as he lay in the dark, listening to the sounds of work. He hated sleep, its necessity angered him and he feared the weaknesses it reveals; yet sleep was required if he was to function on his nightly missions, cutting loose ends was a tiring business. Donned in his special jumpsuit, helping soothe the constant pain, only his and his metal limbs were visible, with the jumpsuit covering his face and his eyes were only presented by two translucent-blue plastic frames.

Memories tumbled about in his head, the tasks he were given provoked thoughts that he tried to bury, he knew his ultimate objective and he wasn't pleased. He remembered the dark times, the torment and the horror were always pushed to the back of his mind as focus and obedience were needed to complete the tasks. He hated sleep, he felt weaker when he lacked it and when he did sleep he relived everything, every moment. He couldn't sleep.

The explosion below provided a decent enough distraction. Getting up and slowly turning to the window he peered through the half-closed shutters. It seemed that they were under attack; members of the White Fang were getting cut down by an Atlasian Military squadron, complimented by a team of hunters, clad in military-white. There couldn't have been more than twenty, but they weren't merely common rabble, these were military personnel with extreme training.

His weapon had been taken for final modifications so he would only have himself and any weapons that could be taken, so he walked back to his bed and donned his mask once more, it turned on and his vitals flashed into view as it glowed a familiar blue. Taking a few steps back, rolling his mechanical shoulders, he charged and crashed through the window to a one storey drop straight into the battle.

* * *

 **Graue Wolke- Beacon: Amphitheatre – 03:15 PM**

I walked out to anticipated silence; Yang was stood there donned in her familiar brown vest grinning, as she impatiently fiddling with two yellow gantlets. She was the first to speak up before the spar began.

"Took you long enough _Porridge_ , you scared of little old me?" As she said she bashed her two gauntlets together, flexed and raised both her fists into an offensive stance, all accompanied by her now familiar smirk.

"I'm just scared I'll wipe the floor with you too easily." I replied quickly as I unsheathed my sword, twirling it; also bringing out my pistol, loaded with dust rounds and pushing back the safety. I settled my blade in a gesture towards her challenging her to make the first move.

She accepted the challenge with a swift charge and tried to land a jab straight into my abdomen; I dodged quickly with a roll and made a swift slash with my sword with glanced off a yellow armoured gauntlet as she brought them back defensively.

"Go on Yang, beat him up!" Came the distinct high pitched tones of Ruby Rose in support of her older sister. With this came another attack by the blonde, punching for my gut and my right shoulder, I could only block one as her left hand slammed into my shoulder, with something else behind it, _a shotgun shell?_ However, even with the strengthened blow, it wasn't enough to stagger me, thanks to the metal prosthetic's presence and much to her surprise, after I blocked her lower fist I was able to kick her away and land a deadly blow as I brought my sword up and sliced it into her chin. As she staggered back I was able to land multiple shots into her left shoulder before she defensively raised her fists.

"What the hell, how are you still standing?" She questioned, one echoed by many around the room. I had no time to reply however as I made a counter-attack, I quickly walked forward firing my pistol repeatedly to distract her, until the clip was empty. By then I was in range for another melee assault, bringing my blade down in a sharp angle forcing her to block and I exploited this by simply bashing her face with the handle of my gun. In angry retaliation she lashed out with a wild punch, this was ducked under and I tripped her, making her stumble forwards; opening her up to a harsh upwards slash of my blade, cutting the back of her vest, her body being saved from injury through her strong aura. I kicked her forwards and took the liberty of reloading my pistol with some blue dust rounds and shooting her in the back as she stumbled away. I don't fight nice, it was the only way to survive back then.

However as Yang turned and slowly raised her head, I realised that my style of fighting was going to bite me back now: her eyes were crimson with murder, her usually pleasant demeanour had been twisted into one of pure rage and her smirk at the start of the fight had turned into a vicious expression, the ice resulting from the blue dust went up in steam as she bore her teeth and took deep breaths, readying up to attack. I could only sigh in resignation as a rage-induced was likely to ensue, settling into a defensive stance as I readied my blade.

* * *

 **Vale: A death by a thousand cuts is no death at all**

He joined the battle immediately. Dropping onto an Atlasian trooper who had just gunned down an initiate, his neck broke on impact; then quickly running into another soldier who rapidly spoke into his comms and was turning his gun onto him. He rapidly ripped the gun from the soldier's hands, beat him with it, subsequently dropped it and broke his neck; this happened to three more soldiers before he found his first hunter. A very large bear faunus, he wielded a single-sided battleaxe with three holes, two on the back flat curve of the axe-head and one on the top of the axe.

"Stop right there, in the name of the kingdoms of Atlas and Vale, you are under arrest!" Swinging his battleaxe as he shouted, jets of flame spurted out of the weapon. He looked at the axe, an impressively large weapon, capable of cutting a lesser man in two. He charged straight at the hunter, his eyes set on the axe.

"So you have chosen death." The hunter began a colossal downwards swing of his battleaxe, aimed straight for splitting him in half, great jets of flame propelling its descent.

He caught it mid-blow, but allowed the weapon to continue momentum, turning and ripping the single bladed weapon from the hunter's hands, he then continued to spin back towards the giant hunter and slam the heavy axe straight into his gut. Aura couldn't save the hunter as he slumped over, his own weapon turned on him in a quick and brutal counter, he could only look at the man as he withdrew the axe, bringing it up, only to swing it straight down onto his neck, severing his head from his body, instantly killing him.

He tested this new weapon, finding it to be useable, but definitely to... _singular_ to his tastes. His mechanical limbs allowed him to carry the cumbersome weapon in a single hand with ease, this allowed him to disarm troopers before cutting into them. He killed six more before they began their retreat, the remaining three hunters stood around him, their bloodied weapons facing that of their fallen comrade. Two girls glared and bared their weapons, however they both seemed wounded; their leader, a black haired human boy with cutting green eyes stepped forward.

"You two head back, I'll deal with this scum." They didn't protest, only nodded, complying to their leader as they aided in the retreat.

"You will pay for what you have done; I'll cut you down here and now." As he did this he raised his weapons, two small tomahawks with what seemed to be lever-action shotguns embedded into their hilts. The leader dashed forward with vengeance on his mind and was able to press and attack onto him, however all it took was one good hit. He knocked the leader away with the hilt of the axe and began to run towards the two girls, axe in preparation.

"What, no!" The boy realised what was going on and gave chase, slowly catching up to him. He threw the battleaxe towards the retreating duo and the boy suddenly had two choices: throw himself in-front of the axe, or kill the man and risk the lives of his two remaining teammates, he made his decision with no hesitation.

* * *

 **Graue Wolke- Beacon: Amphitheatre – 03:21 PM**

I was able to block three of the four projectiles, however the remaining explosive shell blasted into my left leg and I was knocked to my knees as a very angry Xiao Long barrelled towards me. A metal clad fist impacted into my face and sent me tumbling, also disarming me. As I slid to a stop flat on my back, Yang's angry face covered the ceiling lights. She brought down one fist onto my face which I narrowly slid to the side of; the second fist was also dodged as I rolled away.

I was able to jump to my feet, only to be met with a flurry of punches into my stomach which backed me to the wall. I barely dodged another fist as it slammed into the wall, next to my head yet again. I lashed out with my right arm and I was able to grab her incoming left hook and twist it, allowing me to kick her away once again. I ran instantly, not looking back and quickly sliding to pick up my weapon, using my right arm to control the slide, furthermore with the speed I had attained, I leant all my weight onto my right arm and pushed myself onto it and subsequently into the air, with a flip I landed on my feet, facing the angered blonde. The crowd began to chant a very familiar chant, one I must have heard a thousand times.

" _ **Only one alive!**_ **"** Came the echoing encore; the fight was coming to a close, it was time to end my opponent. I flipped open a small side-pocket and withdrew a red dust crystal, smirking I threw it up in the air and slashed my sword through it, igniting the blade in ferocious flame.

" _ **Only one alive!"**_ The encore continued as I charged the blonde for one last time, she was finished. I brought my sword down in a diagonal sweep, held in both hands as I put all my strength behind the swing. The blow knocked away her defence, she landed a loaded punch into my side and I roared in pain, bringing my foot up and kicking her in the side of the head.

" _ **Only one alive!"**_ The encore grew to a deafening volume as I landed a heavy punch from my metal arm straight at her eye. I levelled my flaming sword at her as focused all my energy into the blade, with one final roar I launched one flaming bolt of flame towards the blonde. I heard its impact, but didn't see the immediate aftermath as two exploding shells levelled themselves at me, one hit my right metallic arm and one hit my chest and I was brought off my feet.

" _ **Only one alive!"**_ Sounded the encore, it wouldn't end until I ended her; as I picked myself up and leant on my sword I heard only two things, the encore and the beating of my heart, both were picking up pace as I limped towards her.

" _ **Only one alive!"**_ I reached her as she was stirring; I brought my sword up from steadying myself, almost set to commit the final blow.

"Graue Wolke, the fight is over!" It was Professor Goodwitch's voice that suddenly snapped me back into reality, my sword was half raised and I was able to make it look like I was merely sheathing it, which of course I did. I looked at the stands, this crowd was a fraction of the one I thought I saw and heard; next I turned towards the professor and nodded before turning my attention to the blonde on the floor. Her eyes had returned to a pleasant lilac, they looked up at me and she winced from pain.

* * *

 **Vale: A sacrifice for a cause, is a sacrifice for nothing**

 _Thud._ The sound of the giant axe meeting with flesh resounded through the afternoon air, this was followed by screams, the screams of two female hunters... losing their leader. They could only run, being forced back by the White Fang who were in relentless pursuit. He turned to the hunter who lay on the ground, who had made his way to a nearby wall; the man placed a metallic foot on the weapon embedded in his chest, causing the leader to cry out in pain, however he seemed to swallow his pain as he began to talk.

"You coward... I could have killed you." He sputtered, blood trickling down from his mouth.

" _..._ " Silence was the only reply; he was never in any danger, the outcome was certain from the beginning of the fight, the huntsman would always sacrifice themselves for a cause.

"I'm not afraid of death, but cowards like you will always fear everything that crosses you." With that the hunter turns his head from the man, looking around at the abandoned industrial park.

" _Hunter."_ The hunter whipped his head back, not expecting a reply. His voice was akin to boots on gravel, mechanically aided and resounding across the now silent abandoned industrial zone.

" _You are not a coward, your only crime is ignorance; a fear of death is what keeps us alive, perhaps that is why I am standing over you now, alone in this empty place."_ The man looked straight at the leader, the Grimm markings on his mask glowing their ever-harsh blue.

"Is that what you think, that the key to survival is fear?" The leader laughed, but then coughed violently, bringing up more blood before he continued.

"Evil will never triumph over good, we save lives whilst you only destroy, our cause is just whilst yours is rotten, the only thing you will ever truly destroy is yourself." The man stood above the leader chuckled slightly, the small laugh seemed painful.

" _In truth I envy your ignorance. You hold these notions of honour and valour, using these to protect mankind from evil. But in reality: you will never bring justice, for there is no justice in this world, you will never protect the peace, for peace has abandoned this place and you will never uphold order, for order is a lie. Without these you are nothing, soldiers without a cause and murderers with no excuse."_ With this the man withdrew the great-weapon from the leader's body, causing him to gasp in pain; he let the leader recover before continuing.

" _Good and Evil are two sides of a non- existent coin; I am not good, nor am I evil. I am not the white, the pure and the noble, nor am I the black, the corrupt and the dishonourable. I am merely The Grey, I fight and kill to avoid the true enemy, whose name is Death."_ With that he raised the axe and brought it down on the hunter's head, there was no scream, only the crunch of metal through bone and the distinct sound of breaking flesh, a quick death.

He turned, leaving the weapon sheathed and walked back to the base.

* * *

 **Graue Wolke- Beacon: Amphitheatre – 03:25 PM**

"As both fighters reached the red within seconds of each other, this will count as a draw for the purposes of this practice session." The clear voice of Glynda Goodwitch resounded through the amphitheatre; a draw seemed fair, Yang definitely dealt out what she received, as I looked down at her she spoke up.

"A draw? I thought I had you on the ropes." She chuckled and then sighed as she rested her head on the ground; _if Miss Goodwitch hadn't snapped me to my senses_ , I could barely stop myself from shaking as I replied.

"We fought, we drew...well I suppose I've never lost then!" I was relieved to see her smile as I leant down and helped her up with my right hand. As she got to her feet her eyes widened.

"That's great and all but what is with your arm, is it all metal? She spoke in shock and that's when I saw it, as a result of all the punishment that particular area of my body took, the clothing had fallen apart, revealing the mechanical prosthetic. It seemed the audience had also began a hush discussion over the fight, they all seemed to be looking at my arm.

"It is, I'll talk about it later." With that sorry excuse for an explanation I took off to change, wanting to hide the arm from sight, wanting to get away from this amphitheatre and wanting to get away from the pervasive eyes. I began walking away, turning my back to the crowd on the stands.

"Graue!" I looked back to see Yang concerned, she didn't need to know anything, I can't trust anyone yet.

"You did really well, I just want you to know that." She smiled and for the first time since arriving at this school, I felt a sense of happiness again.

"Of course I did." I jested in reply, my worries eased slightly.

I walked to the changing rooms, I needed a shower.

* * *

 **Quick Note: This chapter was very combat heavy and I would really like constructive feedback on the style of combat.**

 **\+ There was some more graphic imagery here, I felt it safe to put it in T rating, because this is the direction the show itself is going, if I am wrong, please PM me.**


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